ECB April Rate Hike Would Be 'a Mistake': Roubini

The European Central Bank should not raise interest rates in its next meeting because it risks widening the gap between struggling periphery economies and the stronger ones at the center of the euro zone, economist Nouriel Roubini told CNBC Friday.

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Nouriel Roubini

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday a rate hike in April was possible but not certain and revived the bank's old coded warning of monetary tightening by using the phrase "strong vigilance," often heard during the tightening cycle between 2005 and 2007.

"In my view that's a mistake … I think that the ECB is rushing too fast into hiking rates," Roubini said in an interview. (See video of full interview here).